Grand Princess NB cruise tour 7/18-8/1/15

[mimmy52]

We got into our dressier clothes and trundled off to the Crown Grill. We requested a table by the window and got it. That was fortunate because during dinner Jo looked up and saw a whale flash its tail. I had to look out over my shoulder, but it was already gone.

 

 

I had a delicious goat cheese/spinach/beet/tomato salad and then a halibut steak that came with mashed potatoes, asparagus, and another vegetable I couldn't identify, probably a root vegetable. As usual, I was halfway through the meal before I thought to take a picture.

 

 

Jo had a huge rib eye steak that she said was very good. She didn't have dessert, but I had the Norman Love sampler, a selection of chocolate/peanut butter bar, something soft and chocolate, a lemon tart, and a S'More concoction. Yum.

 

 

We went from dinner to the Princess Theater to see comedian Art Krug. He was hilarious. And from there we went to the art gallery so Jo could show me the art she'd purchased at the auction. She had just the spot for it in her new house.

 

A gorgeous end to the day with a spectacular sunset.

 

 

 

And then to bed and to be soothed (or not) by all the creaks and groans the Grand Princess makes when it is moving. Jo has always sailed on Carnival before and she said they are much nicer ships.

[mimmy52]

July 21

Juneau

 

The foghorn sounded all night, so I shouldn't have been surprised when I stepped out on our balcony and saw this:

 

 

That's right. What I saw was nothing. Except our own balcony.

 

Our Princess Patter for the day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mimmy52]

Like yesterday, there had been a port guide and a shopping spotlight in our Patter.

 

I went up on one of the outside decks to watch the docking process about 7:30 and to see what I could make out through the fog. The three hour time difference from St. Louis had me waking up way too early.

 

 

 

 

This didn't bode well for the excursion I had planned for today, a photo safari at Mendenhall Glacier and then whale watching. I could only hope the fog cleared. It felt really cold to me, so I bundled up. I wore my rain jacket over my puffer jacket. Our photographer/guide, Colin, met us at the dock. We got into a large van and were driven out of town to the glacier. Because of the fog, I didn't see any of the town but at some point we drove out of it and suddenly it was a beautiful day. Colin pointed out eagles on the tide flats and Walmart. He also gave some photography/camera pointers on the way.

 

The van let us off in what seemed a back parking lot, not the one by the Visitors Center. We crossed the street and there was an entrance to the Trail of Time. The trail was lovely with morning light, and we stopped at places where he thought the light was perfect for photos.

 

Edited August 8, 2015 by mimmy52

[mimmy52]

 

There were markers along the way that showed how far the glacier had once been.

 

 

 

We came out at a point above the Visitors Center, and we could see the glacier. Totally awesome!

 

[mimmy52]

I was there.

 

 

It was much warmer in the sunshine, so after that photo was taken, I took off my hat and my puffer jacket and just kept on the rain jacket. Colin led us to various vantage points for photographing the glacier.

 

 

 

 

He also took us to a walkway over a creek where there can be salmon viewing. We didn't see any activity today though.

 

[mimmy52]

 

We were going to go on another trail, I think Steep Creek, but it was closed because of too much bear activity. Back in the van on the way to Auke Bay, we were each given a snack of a granola bar, cashews, and fruit leather.

 

There are porta potties near the dock at Auke Bay, and probably better to use than to count on what is on the boat, unless it's a larger boat. There were 13 of us (14 was the limit for this excursion). Colin said there was a "marine head" on the boat but it was in a space so confining and low that I don't see how anyone could have been comfortable in there. It would have to be a real emergency.

 

An eagle, on top of the rocks, was keeping his eye on the water.

 

 

We walked to the boat. I totally forgot to take a picture of the boat.

 

 

Getting on the boat. That's our pilot, Molly.

 

 

Inside the boat. We had bench seats along each side.

 

[mimmy52]

Molly had already taken one group out. She said it always takes a while the first time to find where the whales are. She headed to where they'd seen them that morning and there were a number of boats around. One of the boats that was already there.

 

 

A group of Dall Porpoises started frolicking around in the waves of our boat!

 

 

 

 

Almost immediately, whales were sighted. Colin quickly raised the windows on each side and showed us how to put up the arm rests.

 

 

That looks a little scary the way that boat tips with everyone on one side. The boat we were on had some kind of stabilizers on the side to prevent that happening.

[mimmy52]

I will confess right now that my whale photos are not the best. I kept getting so excited every time I saw them that I'd be watching them instead of the camera. Most of the whales in my pics are way at one edge of the photo or another. But we saw bubble net feeding! My camera is only a point and shoot so with the restriction on how close a boat can get to the whales, those with the better cameras got the best shots.

 

 

 

When the whales weren't surfacing, we could enjoy the beautiful scenery.

 

 

One of the bigger boats was there too.

 

[mimmy52]

Colin and Molly counted ten different tales. I feel lucky that I got photos of any.

 

 

 

[mimmy52]

After watching the whales and seeing them surface and bubble feed a number of times, our pilot said we had to get on, that each boat is limited to the time they're supposed to stay. She took us out past a buoy that is usually full of sea lions, but today there was only one.

 

 

He raised his head for a moment before flopping down again.

 

 

 

Then we had to head back to the dock.

 

[mimmy52]

On our trip back to the dock, we saw two more whales surface. The boat's pilot thought they were probably two young ones that just left their mother. We were offered the chance to get let off in town, but everyone had heavier clothes they wanted to drop off in their rooms. I was surprised when I saw our ship was closer to town than I realized. This morning in the fog it had seemed so far.

 

Jo was still out on her shore excursion, Gold Panning and Salmon Bake, so I had a quick lunch in Horizon Court before heading out again. My plan was to return to Mendenhall Glacier. I walked along the sea wall to the kiosk for the shuttle busses which are near the loading point for the Mt. Roberts tramway.

 

 

 

The bus was just loading. The guy I bought the ticket from (round trip $20) said they leave every hour and half hour from both places, but the driver said they were going every 20 minutes. And on the way, someone spotted two black bears along the road but back near the brush. Naturally it was on the opposite side of the bus from where I sat.

 

The bus stop is only a short walk from the Visitors Center, and you can either walk up the ramp or take the elevator. I decided to walk up the ramp.

 

 

 

I didn't think there was much to see in the Visitors Center, but the charge is only $3. I didn't take time to watch the movie. I took the elevator down and hiked the Nugget Falls Trail.

 

 

The Visitors Center from below

 

[mimmy52]

Starting off on the Nugget Falls Trail.

 

 

It was an easy trail to walk until this part.

 

 

If you wanted to get right up to the Falls, you had to walk down to the beach area. You didn't have to climb over the rocks, there was a path, but it would have been difficult to get a wheel chair any farther. It must have rained as much here as it did in Ketchikan yesterday, because next I encountered this.

 

 

But it wasn't deep and I was wearing shoes with Gore Tex, so I waded on through.

It was so awesome to see the glacier up close, and Nugget Falls was spectacular too. And those adjectives are too weak to describe the feeling of being there.

 

 

[mimmy52]

In the next picture you can see a viewing area for the glacier and falls if you didn't want to come down to the beach. Plus it also looks like an easier path to the beach than I remember, although it was very narrow, at least at that time.

 

 

And someone was kind enough to take a picture of me, although I'm kind of blocking the glacier view.

 

 

There were even some kids building sand castles on the beach, although I guess they were really silt castles.

 

[mimmy52]

After spending some time taking photos, I took a while to just soak in the beauty before I returned to the Visitors Center. The blue bus pulled in just as I got to the bus stop. Good timing.

 

I stayed in the downtown area and just walked around for a while. Of course I saw the Red Dog Saloon. It was crowded and dark so I only went inside for a look.

 

 

Juneau wasn't as charming as Ketchikan even though the sun was shining, but it had a few interesting buildings.

 

 

 

 

Our ship was in port until 9pm so there was plenty of time to get a ticket for the tram to Mt. Roberts.

 

Going up

 

[mimmy52]

The views from the top are great. I saw the injured eagle, Lady Baltimore, poor thing, but I mostly just walked around and looked at the views.

 

The Grand Princess

 

 

Today the NCL ship was docked the farthest from town. The Celebrity Millennium had the plum spot right by the tram. The color of the water was beautiful.

 

 

I'd walked a lot today, and after Mt. Roberts, I was too tired for anything else so I went back to the ship.

 

Walking along the sea wall toward the Grand Princess

 

 

Jo was in the room when I got back. She said they went to a lake for gold panning and it was not easy to do. She had a little vial of water with flecks of gold in it that she had found when she did her panning.

 

 

From there they went to a salmon bake for lunch.

 

[mimmy52]

She thought the food at the salmon bake was only so-so. She said she wouldn't pay $90 for a tour like that again.

 

 

On the way back, they had the option of being let off in town, and Jo chose to do that. She spent some time shopping, and was thrilled to find a quilt shop. She is a dedicated quilter.

 

 

We changed clothes and went to the Michelangelo Room for dinner. It was Italian Night as evidenced by the waiter's clothing. (He's there behind the wine.)

 

 

I had Minestrone all' Ortolana soup and Fettucini Alfredo in a Crisp Parmesan Blanket. Obviously not a literal blanket.

 

 

My entrée was Filetto di Mahi Mahi alla Griglia

 

 

I had cheesecake for dessert but it was half consumed before I took a picture, so I won't share that picture.

[mimmy52]

We went right from the dining room to the Princess Theater to watch Jeff Peterson, magician and comedian, and his dog, Indy. The Patter said he had been voted "Comedy Magician of the Year," but I think that was because of his dog. Otherwise, I didn't think the show was that great, although he did do some clever magic.

 

 

"A Night at the Klondike" was part of the Piazza Party, although we didn't stay long.

 

 

Once back in our room, we went onto the balcony and enjoyed the views before heading to bed.

 

[mimmy52]

 

 

[DKNYC]

I have met Indy (The Dog) on a HAL Veendam cruise a few years ago. I have "liked" her page on that site that we are not supposed to mention here. :) She "posts" pictures from time to time. You are right I found the Dog part more interesting than the Jeff part.

 

Loving your review and your photos. I am doing a similar cruise on Coral Princess next year + a cruise tour with a friend that I met here on Cruisecritic

 

Denise

[mimmy52]

DKNYC, I'll have to look up Indy's page. I'm glad you're enjoying my review. And thanks to those who have commented and to those who are reading. I know I read all of the 2014 and 2013 reviews before we left (and the 2015 ones that had been posted before our trip).

[mimmy52]

July 22

Skagway

 

The view from our balcony this morning.

 

 

And the Princess Patter for the day

 

 

 

 

[mimmy52]

I went to an upper deck for photos. Almost no one was around.

 

 

Maybe because they were all down here getting ready to board the train.

 

 

The Norwegian Jewel and Pearl have the plum docking spots today, closer to town.

 

 

As usual when we went to breakfast at Horizon Court, we had trouble finding a table. But we were flagged down by Paul and Lucy, the couple I'd sat next to on the plane to Seattle. The had a horror story to tell about changing from Alaska Airlines to Delta. Although it's unlikely that anyone reading Cruise Critic would make this mistake, this is their story.

 

Princess made their airline reservations (the mistake is not the fault of Princess). They weren't able to make their connection and fly from Seattle to Vancouver because they had passports cards, and those are not good for air travel into Canada, only for land and sea. They asked what they could do, and the agent told them they could go back to Missouri and get an emergency passport. How helpful of her. Then they were told they could take a taxi and get an emergency passport in Seattle. They said they wouldn't even know where to get a taxi. Someone else then came to help them, and he told them they could take a bus to Vancouver, and he took them by the hand and led them to the bus. Somehow they hadn't noticed that they couldn't enter Canada by air with a passport card. They'd been to Alaska about five years before, but they had driven their in an RV. They're a really nice couple and their son took care of the travel arrangements for them. He probably had no idea the type of passports they had.

[mimmy52]

I forgot to mention a fact about the granite graffiti wall in the first photo of Skagway. The crews of ships mark the wall to commemorate their first voyage to Skagway, although I noticed there were also some special signs to mark retirement.

 

I had a Chilkoot Charter tour scheduled for 8:30 this morning (bus up to Fraser, train back). Jo's tour was dog mushing and scheduled for a later time. The directions were to meet at the pier after going through security, which was easy. A man was there with a clipboard and a sign that said Chilkoot Charters. He checked me off the list and said the driver Brian had just arrived. He gave me the license plate to locate the correct vehicle. I took a seat on the right hand side, recommended by those on Cruise Critic, as the best place for views.

 

 

Brian was a great tour guide. He's had a lot of different jobs since he gave up his career in Seattle and had a lot of interesting stories. He also knew a lot about Skagway. He first drove us through town pointing out historical places. Skagway has one hardware store (If we don't have it, you don't need it), one bank, one post office, and two liquor stores. Then he drove toward Dyea and pulled into a lookout point above the town and the harbor. There were several big busses there already.

 

At the lookout point with Brian. He's the one with the beard.

 

 

The view. It was another overcast day, although it wasn't cold.

 

 

When we rode through town, Brian had pointed out the Kirmse's Curios sign on the side of the hill. I don't remember how long he said it's been there. At some point, Moe apparently thought it was a good idea.

 

[mimmy52]

When we headed up the highway, the scenery was spectacular, even with the low clouds. Brian said the White Pass is called that because so often it's all cloud and fog. Along the way, Brian made a couple of stops at his favorite viewpoints, the first a spot where we could look across at the train going by.

 

 

There were high posts along the highway so snow plows know where the road is during winter.

 

 

Another stop was at Bridal Veil Falls.

 

 

A stop at another scenic spot.

 

 

[mimmy52]

We passed US customs some miles before the border. A small sign announced the border. When we pulled into Fraser, we had to stay on the bus while Canada customs boarded. We were told to hold our passports up to our face. It was quick. I always worry that a customs agent is going to say I don't look like my photo (It's a really good photo).

 

 

Brian then drove to another viewpoint area because we had to wait for our train to arrive (the same train we'd seen at the first lookout spot). It was windy.

 

 

Looking toward the train depot

 

 

More from our viewpoint spot